Have you heard the one about the small-town druggist who got into show business and woke up one morning in Hollywood? No? Well, it is true.

Dowling pharmacist Mark Palumbo is a founding member and chair of Music and Film in Motion (MFM). The non-profit organization’s mandate is to strengthen Northern Ontario’s music industry, and develop a film and television industry.

Last year Palumbo, as the chair of MFM, flew to Los Angeles with Dan Hawes, the president of March Entertainment, a Sudbury-based animation company. They had meetings with industry insiders and sold the benefits of doing business in Northern Ontario. He must have pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming about palm trees and swimming pools.

MFM has had many real successes since it was established by a few dreamers in 2000. The film, television and video industry provides significant economic and social benefits to Greater Sudbury. Thirty productions have been filmed in the city, with direct spending of nearly $24 million. The economic impact of these productions is estimated to be $38 million. The industry has created the equivalent of 386 full-27 time jobs, with an estimated total annual payroll in excess of $13 million.

Palumbo’s vision and leadership with Music and Film in Motion, as well as his overall commitment to economic development and the arts in Northern Ontario, is recognized by the judges of the 2008 Community Builders Awards.

“There was a time when Greater Sudbury exported its greatest resource, its talented youth,” says former mayor David Courtemanche. “Mark’s powerful vision has contributed to reversing that historical trend. He saw the opportunity to export our art, not our artists. He saw the opportunity to export our inspired productions, not our creative talent.”

Mark Palumbo grew up in Levack where his parents taught him early about the importance of volunteer work and community service. He became a pharmacist like his father. He graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, and came back home to open Dowling Pharmacy that same year. He was named Ontario Pharmacist of the Year in 1985.

Palumbo’s participation in committees working toward strengthening economic development in Dowling, and later Onaping Falls, led him to the Sudbury Regional Development Corporation (SRDC), where he served as president in 1995.

About the same time, he began working with talented northern musicians such as Kevin Closs and Erin Benjamin. Palumbo had a head for business and soon established an independent record label, Tower Bay Music Promotions.

“I began to wonder why a pharmacist but not a musician or an artist could make a living here.”

His involvement with the SRDC put him in contact with Tammy Frick, the executive director of Cinéfest, Sudbury’s annual film festival. They began to talk about the possibility of developing jobs for musicians and filmmakers in Northern Ontario.

There were lots of skeptics, but the believers stayed focused. Early champions included Louise Paquette at FedNor, and the Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Rick Bartolucci, says Palumbo.

Then something big happened. A Canadian movie star came to Sudbury to film a big budget production, Men with Brooms, in the spring of 2001.

Paul Gross, one of the country’s most successful actors and directors, was impressed with the rough and rugged landscape of Sudbury. And he liked the people he met too.

“Paul was sympathetic to what Sudbury was doing...(His crew) loved working in Sudbury, and spread it (our reputation) by word of mouth,” says Palumbo.

One good thing led to another. Barna-Alper Productions came to Sudbury in 2004 to shoot Shania, A Life in Eight Albums, a television movie about superstar Shania Twain.
In 2007, Meteo Plus, the first Franco-Ontarian sitcom, was lured to the city with a $2.5 million grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. It premiered Feb. 14 on TFO, and is expected to run for 58 episodes over four seasons.

To promote more projects, MFM has established The Northern Ontario Media Fund, a sector-specific incentive loan designed to assist with the development of media production in Northern Ontario. The minimum amount that can be applied for is $5,000; the maximum contribution per project is $150,000.

Palumbo speaks proudly about MFM’s role in helping Billy Bruhmuller establish Ostara, a new media-webcasting production company. He also points to the success of March Entertainment and their Chilly Beach animated TV series. Other MFM initiatives include the Northern Ontario Film and Music Awards program, and numerous forums.

The movie and music world is known for over-the-top personalities and huge egos. From all reports Palumbo has not “gone Hollywood,” despite his growing connections and friendships in both industries.

“There is no ego to the man,” says MFM executive director Dennis Landry. “He knows so many people in a business where connections are important.”